Joiners, leavers & movers: enhancing the employee experience

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says that:

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“Employee experience specialists can transform the way people feel about their work right from the start of their employment journey, at the point of onboarding; it's in their gift to reposition the organisation into a culture of trust through active listening and action.” [1]

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A critical part of the onboarding process is making sure that joiners have access to systems that they need to be able to carry out their role but all too often employers come unstuck in this area, creating delays, frustrations and a poor first impression.

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Putting everything in place for new joiners can feel like a mammoth task, so it’s understandingly infuriating when you think all the boxes are ticked and your eager new team member turns up but can’t actually work. For many companies, guaranteeing access to relevant business operations from day one is a manual process, requiring HR teams to manually inform IT departments about new starters. The back and forth between these two teams which then ensues to determine permissions is time consuming and fraught with risks that human error means things are missed, or perhaps even worse, new starters are provided with access to systems that contain sensitive information or perform crucial and confidential processes.

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In addition to this, it’s important that new joiners feel like part of a team, particularly given the high prevalence of remote working. Feeling isolated because an e mail or Teams account has not been created does not provide reassurance to new team members that they are working within an organised company or welcome them.

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Putting ourselves in the new employee’s shoes

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A smooth Joiners, Movers & Leavers (JML) process makes new joiners feel part of the company immediately, ensures that those moving to new roles can contribute without delays and can create goodwill which translates to positive reviews from leavers, not to mention having a handle on security.

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Difficulties with the JML process

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Joiners

For most new team members, day 1 goes beyond inductions and remembering the tea round – new joiners want to contribute immediately, and most companies would agree with that approach. This requires instant access to business applications, yet in many companies this process is manual and therefore at risk of errors, with numerous exchanges between HR and IT departments.

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Movers

Unless a seamless JML process is in place when staff switch roles within a company, similar frustrations can apply with access based on their previous role but not set up for their new position. In addition to the frustrations that joiners feel, staff often pose a security risk by retaining permissions relating to their previous role which are no longer needed. Similar issues are repeated with movers as with joiners, resulting in frustration and recently moved staff who are unable to contribute.

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Leavers

A process that is often overlooked. Leavers can have an even more significant impact on businesses with ex-employees retaining systems access and therefore posing a security threat. Orphan accounts can present an opportunity for hackers to strike. In addition to this of course is the unnecessary cost to a business in holding software licences that are no longer used and the higher associated costs for IT teams in decommissioning machines manually.

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Why Automate?

In practical terms, automation enhances productivity, increases efficiency from the outset, lowers costs, reduces errors whilst also playing a part in securing networks. In addition to this, it can make a significant contribution to an organisation’s reputation as seen through the eyes of joiners, movers and leavers.

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By automating the JML process, businesses ensure employee contribution from the outset, as well as maximising security. Investing in automation saves on costs longer term too, as fostering decent relationships with employees regardless of which stage they’re in with the business.

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Sources

[1]: https://www.cipd.org/uk/the-people-profession/careers/roles/employee experience/#:~:text=Employee%20experience%20is%20the%20result,most%20out%20of%20their%20people.

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